


last hope

by mikimooey



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types, The Murder of Me (Fancomic)
Genre: All Triple S Tags Are Platonic, And Other Questions I Had While Reading, Bunnie is UnOffical Triple S Mom, But There Are Mentions of Both Blood and Vomit, How Do the DemiGods Deal with Fighting a God?, Miss Sol is Very Stressed, Not Explicit Mentions of Violence, Other, The Answer is They Don't, This Entire Fic is Headcanons for Me, Typical TMOM Violence, Why Didn't They Look for The Sons Of Heephis?, Zielo is Genuinely Fun to Write for Me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:54:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23824156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikimooey/pseuds/mikimooey
Summary: The thought of those three young kids being already dead or worse- Soulless- made her stomach churn.But sadly, Bunnie thought, rushing past a group of Mobians laughing together, it’s not out of the realm of possibility, especially for something like Zielo.The Entire First Arc of The Murder of Me Fancomic, only told from the eyes of Bunnie Rabbot (or just Rabbit in this world)
Relationships: Antoine D'Coolette/Bunnie Rabbot, Shadow the Hedgehog & Silver the Hedgehog, Shadow the Hedgehog & Silver the Hedgehog & Sonic the Hedgehog, Shadow the Hedgehog & Sonic the Hedgehog, Silver the Hedgehog & Sonic the Hedgehog
Comments: 3
Kudos: 7





	last hope

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Murder Of Me](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/611353) by Gigi-D. 



> I reread TMOM during quarantine and this is the result
> 
> this fic requires that the reader has read the entire first arc of The Murder of Me by Gigi-D on Deviantart 
> 
> Zielo, Heephis, Celios, Miss Sol, Chaos, and the Story all belong to Gigi-D
> 
> All Sonic Characters belong to Sega.

Ah, Tin-Can. The City of Markets.

Bunnie didn’t often leave the safe halls of Paradise without a good reason. There wasn’t much to do in the worlds around it since most of the interesting ones had already been eradicated by The Dark God anyways. But still…

It was somewhere new.

Despite her husband Antoine's insistence, Bunnie had decided to go alone today. A nice, normal town was what she needed, especially since the normally airy, peaceful feel of Paradise had been gone for a while now. Miss Sol and the others suspected that Zielo, the Dark God, was planning to make some major moves, the first one since the demi-gods had lost one of their own. The astounding amount of tension from the other demi-gods because of this gut feeling was building up and making Bunnie simply hate the entirety of Paradise and the people within.

Bunnie sharply inhaled the oily air and released it with a sigh. 

Things would be so much easier if any of them knew what to do.

No one in Paradise would voice their concerns at all, but Bunnie knew that they all were thinking the same thing. 

Without the foretold Sons of Heephis, they **were** going to lose against the Dark God. Their eventual defeat without the Sons was unspoken in the halls of Paradise but looming over their lives constantly and her leader, Miss Sol knew it. She was getting desperate to find them and it wasn’t in the way that Bunnie had seen previously, where her search for the Sons of Heephis was more one of curiosity mixed with duty. The fact was as Zielo was raising his already widespread army for who knows what purpose, the number of people who could be the Sons were dwindling and it wouldn’t be long now before the possibility of having to search through Zielo’s ranks became a real one.

Bunnie huffed and kicked a small stone on the side of the well-trodden down walkway. The demi-gods of Paradise didn’t know if any of the Sons were even able to be found, let alone safe. Wherever they were, Zielo’s power had made them unreachable to the eyes of the demi-gods. The thought of those three young kids being already dead or worse- Soulless- made her stomach churn. 

_ But sadly _ , Bunnie thought, rushing past a group of Mobians laughing together, _ it’s not out of the realm of possibility, especially for something like Zielo. _

She ended up sitting down on a bench and people-watching, simply to take in the sights of an ordinary town before Zielo’s reach touched them.

Tin Can was a lot more peaceful than Paradise currently. Bunnie couldn’t help but stare at the happy smiles on people’s faces and wished she could give the refugees of Paradise the same feeling. Or the other demi-gods. 

Or everyone in Paradise. 

Bunnie knew that no one in Paradise wanted to be the one leading hundreds of more refugees into their walls if they could help it. She was sure that it was only a matter of time before Miss Sol or one of the others broke from the stress of it all.

Honestly, it was only a matter of time before Bunnie herself broke. 

The pressure and fear combined were too much.

The faces of the other demi-gods slipped through her head, with their sad eyes and tired, slumped forms. The citizens of Tin Can around her began to blur and she tried to not think about the fates of the people around her. Soulless, most likely or dead, if they were lucky.

Her increasingly dark thoughts are interrupted by a dark sear across her mind and her eyes widen in fear.

_ No.. It wasn’t supposed to be this soon. _

But it is, she could feel it in her chest, the dark, tainted energy rumbling towards the town of Tin Can, the general feeling of wrong from the planet’s surface that had suddenly surged into her bones and the overpowering rotten smell of thousands of souls slowly crumbling. Bunnie felt her ears pin themselves to her head and one horrifying thought flashed through her brain.

_ I’m trapped here. _

She didn’t know where the nearest portal spot was and she couldn’t allow herself to be trapped, Paradise didn’t need another soul gone and a new Bloodthroat added to the ranks of Zielo’s army. She couldn’t do that to Antoine, losing her would probably destroy him more completely than losing his soul ever would

She wondered if the Dark God was aware of that but then scoffed to herself. Why would she assume otherwise? The Dark God’s power was absolutely limitless. Apart from the Soulless themselves, the demi-gods knew that better than anyone. Based on simply that alone, Bunnie knew that there was no escape because Zielo had never intended for there to be one. 

Fear of her future froze her on the spot as she blankly stared at the citizens of Tin Can around her. Their faces changed from confusion to fear as it began to dawn on them that something was wrong. Even people with no sort of attachment to the Dark God, like the demi-gods and Soulless, could feel his power, and Bunnie swallowed loudly. 

_ Well _ , she thought, listening to the energy of the planet shifting beneath her,  _ If I’m going to end up as a Bloodthroat-  _ an idea that made her whole body convulse in disgust-  _ I’m going to help some people live a bit longer.  _

Bunnie pulled herself out of her stupor and rushed towards the center of town. If she could manage to inform just some people to get out of here, maybe it would make her inevitable soul loss worth it.

She stopped in the town center and opened her mouth, only to see that the town square was filled with panicking citizens, too intent on escaping to notice one rabbit.

_ How am I going to…  _ She thought, only to realize that something was bubbling at her feet.

In a pure instinctual impulse, she screamed as she realized that sizzling under her feet was a red-hot bubble formed out of the planet’s decaying energy. The heat melted into her bare feet and Bunnie found herself paralyzed, despite her demi-godly status.

All a sudden, wind whistled around her and the heat vanished. The world became a blur of landscape and blue. She’d been scooped up and it took a second to feel the two arms that were curled around her. Her voice, hoarser than she expected, managed to shout, “Oh my stars!” in surprise.

The person who saved her had a blinding grin plastered on his face that she could somehow see despite the smoke and he beamed down at her, “Hey there! I’m Sonic and I’ll be your hero for the evening.”

It’s just lame enough to make her want to roll her eyes despite the situation, but her “hero for the evening”, Sonic, jarringly set her down on a hillside that she didn’t recognize. Bunnie swayed a bit on her feet, just as Sonic turned away from her. After stabilizing herself, she opened her mouth to thank Sonic for his help, even if an explosion wouldn’t have hurt her as much as he might’ve assumed.

Her whole world stopped.

Sonic was a hedgehog.

His fur was the same odd coloring right between baby and royal blue she’d seen on the stained glass windows of her home.

His quills curved in the same way she’d seen in murals.

There was a glow coming from his back spines that she knew in her soul was one of the Sons’ energy controllers.

A Son of Heephis.

Bunnie blinked… And then panicked…

_ A Son of Heephis! _

It was almost unfortunate that her first thought after realizing this was a sad one.  _ He’s so young.  _

Bunnie knew Mobian ages very well, she’d watched some of the Paradise refugees age gradually over the years, some had even been in Paradise before she was made one of the demi-gods. There was no doubt in her mind that the Son of Heephis in front of her was barely even a teenager.

Sonic was still talking to the red echidna she'd just noticed, waving his arms exaggeratedly. Bunnie knew she needed to talk to him, she had to get him to Paradise, even if she was sure that she wasn’t going to make it. But her earlier playful annoyance at the words he’d said to her while saving her was gone and replaced by intimidation. Which was an odd thing to feel, since she lived with Miss Sol and Blaze, but never in Bunnie’s life had she ever felt so cowed to be in someone’s presence, much less someone so young.

_ Can he sense I’m a demi-god?  _ She asked herself, moving a bit closer to him,  _ Is that why he saved me? _

She was still trying to figure out how to best handle this situation when a piercing scream ripped through the air, most likely another victim of the chaotic crisis around them. Sonic’s eyes widened at the sound and he frantically choked on air. Bunnie couldn’t hear what he mumbled to the echidna next to him, but as quickly as he’d come, he was gone, only leaving a loud boom in his wake. 

_ He also has some sort of speed boost,  _ she noted, shaking her head to rid herself of the ringing in her ears,  _ Could it be similar to the Gods the Sons are based on?  _ Speed boost didn’t seem like a very Heephis thing to have. But then again, Bunnie had never met him. 

She briefly considered heading after Sonic to try and convince him to come to Paradise with her, but just as she took a step towards the direction he’d run off in, a dark, familiar presence entered the area nearby.

Zielo.

_ He had to know, didn’t he? About Sonic?  _ She thought, pausing in her movement.  _ There’s no way he doesn’t.  _ She looked towards the burning city of Tin Can and then back to where the dark feeling was coming from.

Nevertheless, Bunnie could guess that the Dark God knew she was here as well and was probably waiting to see what she would do. Either head after the Son of Heephis and doom the people on this hillside or rush to protect them and lose the Son of Heephis, her soul, and the souls of the others on the hillside. 

She stepped backward towards where Sonic had run off to.

And fell through a portal, backward. 

The Dark God’s bored sigh echoed in her ears, almost as though he’d predicted the portal and then faded away in the warm halls of Paradise. She opened her eyes to see Blaze’s concerned ones staring down at her.

“Blaze!” Bunnie shouted at her savior, “Wh-” She’s interrupted by the warm fur of her husband crushing against her as he pulls her into a desperate hug. Shocked but not surprised, she winded her arms around his shoulders and returned the gesture to Antoine. They held each other for what felt like a couple of minutes before Antoine pulled away to look her in the eyes, “Are you okay ?”

“Yes,” she breathed, pushing her face against him to reassure herself that he was here, “But I need to speak with Miss Sol.”

“You can do that now,” replied Miss Sol’s cold voice from a distance. Bunnie picked herself off the floor to meet Miss Sol’s furious eyes, Antoine following her up from the floor. The rest of the Council was gathered around Miss Sol, but none of them appeared as angry as Miss Sol did. Her hair was disheveled and her eyes blazed with fury.

“What were you thinking?” She annunciated each word, “The Dark God could have turned you!”

Bunnie flinched a bit, recalling just how distraught Miss Sol was after the loss of Tikal. Antoine slid his hand into hers and squeezed in reassurance. Bunnie squared her shoulders up and spoke as directly to Miss Sol as she could manage, “I’m sorry, Miss Sol. The Dark God must have advanced his plans quicker than we thought and I was caught off guard. I won’t be so reckless again.”

Miss Sol pinched her brows with her hand and let out a breath, “The Dark God has caught us all off guard. We were unprepared.”

The others around her shifted uncomfortably at her tone, a determined one that tried to reassure that this wouldn’t happen again. They all knew she’s lying through the skin of her teeth to try and keep the mood light. Bunnie’s head dropped sullenly as she recalled the citizens of Tin Can hidden on that little hill, not knowing of the Dark God or his intentions, unaware that their world was to be consumed.

It’s as she’s thinking of the crowded hill that she remembered Sonic.

A grin found its way onto her face despite it all. She looked at the Council around her and realized that Sonic is exactly what they need right now. Just something to hope for.

“Miss Sol,” Bunnie said with as much authority she can, “When I was on that planet, I found someone who could be one of the Sons of Heephis.”

They all froze the name of Heephis a cold weight on their shoulders. Chaos’ tired eyes widened, Mogul shifted forward a bit, Blaze’s eyes darted to Miss Sol and Bunnie felt Antoine grip her hand a bit harder.

Miss Sol’s eyebrow twitched, “Are you sure?” Her voice was as steely as ever and Bunnie was a bit impressed that her composure hadn’t cracked yet.

“The child was a blue hedgehog,” Bunnie told her, ignoring the others’ murmurs, “He resembled the murals.” She waved her hand at the symbols on the walls of Paradise, “He had powers.” Boosted speed was certainly something, even if it wasn’t what Miss Sol and the others were expecting a Son of Heephis to have.

Chaos stepped forward, his tired eyes glistening with something Bunnie didn’t recognize, “I must see him to determine whether he is a Son of Heephis.” With that statement, he whipped around and rushed away, headed straight for the Vision Room. The others quickly followed after him, leaving her and Antoine in the reception hall of Paradise.

Her husband maneuvered his way around her and kissed her hand gently. When he looked up to meet her eyes, his eyes were warm, “If he iz a Son of Heephis…” His voice broke a bit, though it would only be noticeable to her, “...Bunnie.”

“I hope he isn’t,” she told him, her private thoughts unwinded by his affection, “He’s too young.”

Antoine only shook his head with a fond smile, “You should know the Dark God better than zhat by now, no?”

Bunnie remembered Sonic’s warm smile and flippant attitude and cringed, “I should huh.”

His hands dropped from hers, “I wish I could come with you. But Miss Sol asked me to do something first. I will be zhere as soon as I can.”

Her heart sunk. Miss Sol was more likely to listen to Antoine, a demi-god who was gifted powers for a reason rather than her, a demi-god made for marriage. She nodded quietly and Antoine gave her his usual sad smile before turning and heading towards the corridors opposite to the Vision Room, allowing Bunnie to process her thoughts before following the others.

Namely, how in all the worlds were the group of demi-gods going to get Sonic to Paradise? If Zielo had the world Sonic was a part of gripped in his claws- how would a group of demi-gods manage to get him safe? She had no idea.

She stepped into the Vision Room. The others cleared the way for her to whisper the name of the person she was looking for into the ball of light in the center of the room, each gazing at her in anticipation.

Bunnie took the ball of light in her hands, envisioning the young hedgehog and whispered Sonic’s name, hoping against her better nature that the hedgehog wasn’t the Son of Heephis and she had just been mistaken.

Her eyes snapped open as Sonic’s voice filled the room, “Sup, redhead.”

Bunnie looked up into the ball to see Sonic talking to the red echidna from before with a small smile playing on his lips. In the scene around them, she can see the town of Tin Can burning in the background. She’s drawn out of the image by the sharp noise that Chaos made, somewhere between a happy sigh and a horrified gasp. The entire Council followed suit, all staring at Heephis’ apprentice with bated breath.

“He’s one of them,” Chaos said, his voice wavering a bit. Bunnie felt a small stab of sympathy. Chaos had known the Old Gods and now seeing an exact replica of one of them had to sting a bit. Indeed, Chaos’s eyes were hungry and he’s clearly looking at the sight of Sonic chatting with the echidna with warmth. Mogul leaned forward a bit and patted his back.

Blaze spoke first, “How are we to get the Son of Heephis here?” She almost stumbled over saying ‘Son,’ instead of the usual ‘Sons’, but since she was Blaze, she recovered quite quickly.

Miss Sol responded, “We can not.” Her red eyes glimmered a bit in the yellow light of the torches.

Bunnie could feel her body pulse with rage. The others had been tearing the world apart for the Sons of Heephis and now, Miss Sol was telling them that they couldn’t go get one of the people who could save the world? An unbridled rage found itself forming in Bunnie’s stomach and she almost shouted at her leader, but barely managed to hold her tongue.

Mogul seemed as frustrated as Bunnie, “Is there a reason we can not bring the Son of Heephis here?”

Miss Sol didn’t answer but instead walked over to the ball of light with Sonic in it. She reached for the ball and began to tug a small section of it off. The section bubbled and fizzed in her hands and then formed into a ball of its own, filled with the image of the Dark God. Miss Sol didn’t waver like the rest of them did at Zielo’s face, but Bunnie can see the frustration in her body and her shaking hands. 

Miss Sol only walked back to stand beside her husband, saying nothing at all to answer Mogul’s question. Mogul opened his mouth, about to ask her again when he was interrupted by the visions happening in the ball.

The echidna was asking Sonic if he knew what an energy controller was, although the Son of Heephis appeared to be more confused than anything. Bunnie frowned to herself,  _ Hadn’t she seen him with an energy controller when he’d rescued her? _

Another unfamiliar voice cut into the scene in the ball, a bit gruffer than the other two. It was a bit startling, especially since whoever had spoken was outside of the small scene they were able to see. Bunnie noticed Mogul jump a bit in the air.

The echidna seemed just as surprised as Mogul was, quietly asking Sonic if the newcomer was a friend.

“Eh,” Sonic shrugged one shoulder, “More or less, yeah”

The newcomer walked into the ball’s field of vision and Bunnie felt yet another chill roll over her spine, a very similar one to the feeling of seeing Sonic for the first time.  _ There’s no way,  _ Bunnie thought, her eyes going to the others that had now gathered closely around the vision. But apparently, the vision was the same for all the others.

“There’s two of them,” Blaze whispered from next to Bunnie’s ear, her voice deadly calm.

Sure enough, the newcomer had dark fur with bright red stripes on his quills, perfectly matching the stained windows and the murals of Paradise’s past. That combined with the exact shape of his quills identified him as the second Son of Heephis that the demi-gods had seen in the past minute.

The small image of the Dark God trapped in the vision next to the Sons twisted his muzzle into one of the most vicious smiles Bunnie had ever seen. Bunnie swallowed the lump forming in her throat,  _ He’s smiling... _

She risked a glance at Miss Sol and Chaos, the only demi-gods to have now seen the Old Gods and the Sons of Heephis. Miss Sol’s expression was still blank and empty. Her husband, Chaos, matched her face with his own. It was neutral and calmer than she’d ever seen the two of them.

The second Son of Heephis spoke again, although Bunnie had stopped paying attention to what exactly they’re talking about at this point and started to focus on how the hell they are going to get these two to safety. Sonic and the unnamed second Son are both at massive risk from Zielo and his Soulless, even if they aren’t aware of it. Bunnie longed to simply teleport in there, scoop them both in her arms and get them far, far away.

But one look at Zielo’s cool, undaunted, still-grinning face and she knew that was exactly what he wanted them to do.

_ At least neither of them seem to be in immediate danger, _ she thought,  _ But knowing Zielo that won’t last long. _

Miss Sol finally spoke when the two Sons decided to head towards the glowing red light of another energy controller. Her voice was resolute and deliberate, “No one is to interfere right now. Not until we know what kind of game the Dark God is playing.”

Bunnie could see the wisdom in that but Blaze is the only one of them to visibly nod in response. Mogul’s body sagged down a bit.

They watch in reluctant silence as the two Sons of Heephis eventually realize that their world’s energy has been tampered with and then decide that they are going to need to try and fix it. Bunnie recalled the feeling of the planet beneath her when she stood on those hills and cringed internally. It was so blindingly obvious that the Sons were very young and inexperienced and she hated when Zielo’s small smile widened a bit at their naivete.

They also learned the second Son’s name was Shadow and that similarly to how Sonic was quite different from the wise Heephis Bunnie expected from the stories, Shadow was gruff where Celios was kind. He was clipped and short with his words and had an air of someone who didn’t really like letting his emotions guide him, similar to Blaze. It was also a wild contrast to the Celios from the stories. Bunnie could see Miss Sol’s betraying ears droop as Shadow’s voice- deliberately void of emotion- echoed throughout the Vision Room.

The demigods watched the two Sons of Heephis with bated breath as they managed to make it quite far together before they ran into trouble, that being an average-sized group of Soulless. After a rapid debate between the two, Shadow stepped out into the mob of Soulless with no hesitation.

His confidence was a bit jarring considering it was very unlikely Shadow had encountered anything quite like the Soulless before. Sonic muttered a hushed “What are you doing?’ at Shadow’s back as he charged into the Soulless with almost toxic-green energy crackling around his hands. 

The demi-gods of Paradise watch the fighting in fearful silence just as Shadow unknowingly turned his back on a Soulless with a long spear. The Soulless grinned and shoved the spear down towards Shadow’s back with a shout. Someone in the room gasped loudly.

It was immediately trampled by Sonic, who somehow managed to make it to his brother’s side in an instant. Bunnie exhaled a sharp sigh of relief.

Shadow grunted out a reluctant compliment towards Sonic before throwing himself back into the fighting. Sonic blinked a couple of times as if startled, before grinning right back at him and following suit. As the battle kept going on, Bunnie found that she could suddenly breathe again and her hands that were gripping tightly at her jacket loosened a bit. Despite the small mishap on Shadow’s part, they seem to be doing much better against the Soulless than Bunnie would’ve expected from two barely trained godly creations.

Still, there’s nothing right about this. There’s nothing right about being forced to sit and watch these two kids fight Soulless by themselves and not able to do anything at all. Bunnie side-eyed Mogul, hoping to get his attention. _ Maybe he’d help them if she could convince him to,  _ she thought quietly,  _ There has to be some way.  _

Miss Sol spoke again, just as Shadow and Sonic began to fight even more Soulless, “They aren’t making a dent in The Dark God’s forces. The Sons of Heephis don’t know how to kill them.”

Mogul frowned, his arms crossing over his chest, “So they are untrained.” His tone was mostly unimpressed.

Her ears droop unintentionally at his words,  _ They don’t know any better, Mogul because the Dark God somehow managed to hide them from us. If we had just gotten to them sooner, none of this would be happening.  _ But she held her tongue.

From beside her, Blaze shook her head, “We could teach them.” She didn't offer any follow-ups to that, only a small smile as she watched Shadow blast off a Soulless’ head. 

“I suppose,” replied Mogul, eyes drifting back to the vision in the center of the room. He looked at the other more ominous figure in the opposing vision, “If the Dark God doesn’t get there first.”

Sonic and Shadow were still fighting, when another sound thundered around the area. The noise was so deafening that the vision ball that the demi-gods were looking through shook with the force of the sound. Oddly disturbed, Bunnie snuck a glance over at Zielo’s face, but the Dark God was as impassive as ever.

Sonic shouted something to Shadow over the loud tearing noise. Shadow yelled something back just as something fell on the floor in front of both Sons of Heephis. Both Sonic and Shadow stepped backward tensing for another fight, but before either of them could make a move, another Soulless started for the lump on the floor. The Mobian, Bunnie was now sure it was a Mobian, let out a shriek upon spotting the Soulless and Shadow burst into action, taking the Soulless out of the fight.

“Are you alright, kid?” asked Shadow, which confirmed Bunnie’s fears that another Mobian had been added to the fray. The lump on the floor finally got to its feet, revealing….

“Crap,” said Bunnie, not even caring if Miss Sol heard her. 

“All three,” muttered Blaze, eyeing the newcomer with concern, “What is Zielo planning?”

The last Son of Heephis had arrived. Zielo’s copy, to be exact. Unlike the other two, who seemed to be relatively healthy, this one’s physical appearance was awful-his quills were matted and horribly frayed at the ends, his ribs were showing under his stomach and his body shook a bit with the effort of standing.

Bunnie’s hand was itching to punch Zielo’s image in the face, her fate be damned. 

Chaos looked at his wife’s impassive face as if waiting for her to say something, but she remained quiet. In the background, the Sons of Heephis began introducing themselves to each other. _ We’re watching history in the making,  _ Bunnie thought dizzily,  _ But this could be the end of them. _

Zielo never did anything without a reason, the demi-gods knew that after years of experience. If Zielo was bringing the people who could end him and his reign together, then there had to be something, some other angle that Bunnie either couldn’t see or wasn’t capable of seeing. And judging from Miss Sol’s face, she was thinking something similar, judging whether it was worth the risk to themselves or Paradise itself to go collect the Sons of Heephis before whatever Zielo’s plan was could come to fruition.

Her lips tightened and Miss Sol spoke, “The Sons of Heephis are on their own.”

With that she turned and left the room, leaving the rest of the demigods in absolute shock. Chaos swallowed loudly in the silence after Miss Sol’s departure and told the rest of them, “I’ll talk to her.” He followed her out of the room, leaving Bunnie, Blaze, and Mogul to sit and deliberate.

Bunnie hissed to herself, just as Blaze spoke in Miss Sol’s absence, “Miss Sol is correct, you know.”

When she looked up, Bunnie found Blaze’s cool gaze on her. Blaze continued, “Don’t think I couldn't see you glaring at Zielo and Miss Sol this entire time. You think we should bring the Sons of Heephis here.”

“Yes, I do,” Bunnie found herself saying sternly, eyes darting to the three kids in the vision sphere, “It’s worth the risk.”

“It is not,” replied Blaze, the only hint of her anger in the red flash in her eyes, “We have thousands of refugees to think about. We must put them first.”

“The refugees are at greater risk if we don’t collect them than if we do,” Bunnie argued back, “At least if we have the Sons of Heephis here, we have a chance. Paradise has been attacked before and it will be again!”

“We still have a chance to get them here later,” spat Blaze, her eyes finally turning all red, “We can’t do anything until we know more about the Sons and more about Zielo’s plans for them.”

“What do you think is wrong with them? That they’re bad people? That they’re Soulless? You and I can both see that that’s not true!”

Blaze’s hands dropped to her sides and she hissed at Bunnie through her teeth, “We don’t know what Zielo has done to them in the time that we could not find them. The Dark God is capable of anything.”

Bunnie had to admit that that argument made some sense, but she still didn’t think Miss Sol or Blaze were right. Blaze turned away, ending the conversation with a flick of her flaming tail and a sullen expression on her face. Bunnie couldn't fault her for that, she hated arguing with the other Paradise demi-gods. It always made her feel somehow more stressed.

Miss Sol had still not come back into the room and the thought of a stressed induced breakdown did cross Bunnie’s mind, but she didn’t feel the need to act on it. Miss Sol had Chaos with her anyways.

The third Son of Heephis was speaking though Bunnie hadn’t been paying attention to what he was saying. His hands were surrounded with pulsating energy that glowed blue, the same shade as Zielo’s eyes and he leaned forward to press his hands against…

Sonic’s feet.

His horribly and horrifically damaged feet.

Her stomach rolled and she blinked her suddenly heavy eyes rapidly, trying to fix an issue that wasn’t there. As the sphere focused on the hole-ridden things that were the Son of Heephis’s feet, Miss Sol and Chaos re-entered the room. They looked fairly-well put together for two leaders that probably were breaking down outside of the room. At least, the refugees weren’t allowed in these halls and therefore, couldn’t find the leaders of the safe haven in a terrible state.

Blaze immediately rushed over to Miss Sol and began to converse with her quietly. Chaos ignored both of them and made his way over to Mogul and Bunnie, his green eyes drained of their normal glow.

“How are they?” He asked the two of them as the Sons of Heephis carefully began to walk towards the group of trees on the other side of the clearing that the earlier battle had taken place in. 

Mogul cut in before Bunnie could explode about the injustice of it all, “They seem to be doing fairly well for a group of untrained fighters, but it appears as though the Dark God has gotten to them.”

It was that statement that made Bunnie stare at him, confused. At least, Chaos appeared to be equally as bewildered by Mogul’s assessment of the Sons. Almost as if sensing their confusion, Mogul pressed on. 

“The Heephis copy has injuries all over his feet and the Zielo copy is almost certainly underfed. An average Mobian of this particular world does not have conditions like these to that severity. The Dark God’s hand is clearly at work.” The tone in Mogul’s voice appeared as if he thought it was obvious.

Somehow Bunnie’s hatred for Zielo skyrocketed at that moment and she turned towards the God in the vision sphere only to find that he was missing from it. 

Just as Sonic hissed something at the others, hate and panic flooding his voice, “That creature killed my father. Let. Me. Go.” 

He’s speaking mostly to Shadow, who is pulling him harshly down to the floor and rationally pointing out that the Sons don’t know what or who that monster is.

But the demigods do.

They can feel something has changed now, the shift in the flow of energies in the planet as if something had swiped its hand simply across the surface and caused ripples that flowed down to the center. They know because Zielo was no longer watching like they were forced to.

He was playing.

Bunnie watched in numb silence as the Sons of Heephis encountered Zielo for the very first time. Her body shook as Sonic broke free of Shadow’s grip and charged toward the Dark God on a one-hedgehog mission to take him out, even if it was impossible. Her ears sank as Silver tried to slow him down, only to collapse in a heap, blood spewing out of his mouth. Her soul wailed inside her body as Shadow held a Spear Cannon up to Zielo’s face, only to be forced to kneel next to the others on the floor.

Zielo’s smile only flickered the entire time. 

Bunnie turned to the others surrounding the vision, “We should help them!”

“We can not,” Miss Sol responded automatically, her red eyes glinting in the dim light, “Not without great risk to ourselves and Paradise.”

The Sons were staring in almost awe as Zielo as he spoke, although their faces were anything but. Sonic and Shadow had matching expressions of controlled rage while Silver blinked woozily. 

The demi-gods quietly watched. 

**Author's Note:**

> second part will be up soon!


End file.
